The Good the Bad and the Smelly

Class has begun. After exploring the city and eating and drinking too much for a few days we have finally added homework and projects to the mix. Classes started on Monday and we will have class Monday, Tuesday and Friday every week with a technical visit to waste plants of different varieties every Wednesday as well. The classrooms are exactly what you would expect from and university; white or blackboard, pretty dreary walls, and desks so small that writing on them or even fitting an entire notebook on them is nearly impossible. But the classes, focused on waste management and policy in Europe, are interesting and quite different from what I have learned about the U.S. so far.

Today was our first technical visit; we traveled to an industrial park outside of the city which was surrounded by marshes, salt-flats, and mountains off in the distance creating an otherworldly effect. Our first stop was to a paper recycling plant (papiro sarda). We were given a tour around the facility and saw how the waste arrived at the plant as either mixed paper waste ranging in color and size and containing cardboard or in baled, higher quality paper (not unlike the paper you would find in an office or printer). the paper was then shredded and turned into a pulp that eventually reached a consistency that could be dried, flattened, and turned into paper or cardboard. While walking around we were able to see the higher quality in all of its forms at the plant and even the final product; it’s crazy to see the paper come in to the plant in a chaotic, colorful mess and leave in an organized role that is uniform in color.

Our second stop for the day was a waste to energy plant located right down the road. I have been really interested in waste to energy plants as of late, but I can definitely say for sure now that I will never be a fan if the smell. I really enjoyed seeing all of the sorting and conveying equipment as well as the treatment stages and controls, but that smell was still awful.

Two days of class and one technical visit down, plenty more to come. Cooking lessons and sand dunes this weekend! Pictures of Italian waste management and street are to come in the next few days.